XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis, rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: hayesmstw@hotmail.com   
      
   On 13 Oct 2005 06:00:51 GMT, AC  wrote:   
      
   >On Mon, 10 Oct 2005 19:54:22 -0400,   
   >Andrew F. Donnell  wrote:   
   >> Joseph wrote:   
   >>> "Graham Lockwood"  wrote in message   
   >>> news:0001HW.BF6F8E10004931D4F0407600@news.dallas.sbcglobal.net...   
   >>>   
   >>>>I suspect if everyone practiced "mere Christianity", there wouldn't be any   
   >>>>"need" to torture anyone to find the location of a nuclear bomb/kidnapped   
   >>>>child/whatever because nuclear terrorism and kidnapping are both very   
   >>>>un-Christian things to do...   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>> Like the Crusades, or the Inquisition...   
   >>   
   >> Yes, sadly, those are very un-Christian things to do....   
   >   
   >Un-Christian by the standards of most modern Christians, but by the standards   
   >of Medieval Christendom, they were perfectly legitimate actions.  And it's   
   >not as if the Bible didn't provide examples of God-sanctioned acts of this   
   >kind.   
      
   The question was really whether such things would be Christian by the   
   standards of "mere Christianity", in an imaginary world where "mere   
   Christianity" was *practised*.   
      
   And while the Bible does indeed have instances of such things, Jesus is   
   recorded as having said, on several occasions, "Ye heard that it was sdaid of   
   old.... but I say unto you."   
      
   In the real world of history, of course, men are sinners, and do not always   
   practise what they profess, and are very good at rationalising their failure   
   to do so.   
      
   But we are not talking about the real world of history here, but about an   
   imaginary world where people *practise* mere Christianity, and therefore must   
   be assumed to manifest the Christian vitrtues of modesty, humility, patience   
   and love.   
      
   I cannot imagine that in such a world there would be witches, terrorists,   
   serial killers, loan sharks, adulterers or the like. And the idea of torturing   
   another sentient being would be anathema to such people.   
      
   Of course it is an imaginary world, and of course real Christians don't behave   
   like that because they are all sinners. But this is an imaginary world on the   
   other side of a wardrobe.   
      
      
   --   
   Steve Hayes   
   Web: http://www.geocities.com/hayesstw/stevesig.htm   
        http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)